


In Life's Name

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Category: Lilo & Stitch (2002), Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Kidnapping, Lilo is a Young Wizard, Ordeal, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 13:49:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8330227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: Lilo found the book at the sale that the library was holding to get rid of old books that had been withdrawn from the library’s collection.“So – You – Want – To – Be – A – Wiz – ard,” Lilo read aloud, sounding out the syllables.





	

**Author's Note:**

> _This was published in half-completed form in one of my short fics and follow ups collections. Many thanks to everyone who offered further encouragement. I hope you guys like the finished version._

Lilo found the book at the sale that the library was holding to get rid of old books that had been withdrawn from the library’s collection.

“So – You – Want – To – Be – A – Wiz – ard,” Lilo read aloud, sounding out the syllables. She looked at Stitch. “What do you think?”

Stitch shrugged.

Lilo found Nani over by the romance novels, and tugged on her pant leg to get her attention.

“Can I get it?” Lilo held up the book. “It’s only a dollar.”

Nani read the title.

“A wizard, huh?” She looked at how thick the book was. “Are you sure that book isn’t a little too old for you?”

Lilo looked offended.

“It has pictures! And I can _read_ , you know.”

“Alright then,” said Nani, and bought the book.

* * *

The book itself was old, with a cloth-bound cover, and with faded gold lettering on the spine.

Lilo didn’t understand a lot of what it said, even when she read through the difficult bits two or three times. But there was one bit, all by itself on the page, which was written out like a promise _– in Life’s name and for Life’s sake –_ and Lilo knew, instinctively, that it was important. She read it out loudly and painstakingly, and Stitch was carefully still the entire time, and when the last syllable faded away, he twitched one ear and stared at her.

Nothing much seemed to have happened, but Lilo was struck by the impression that something had changed, something terribly important.

“I think it worked,” Lilo said after a while, into the silence.

“What worked?” asked Stitch warily.

“I don’t know,” said Lilo after a moment’s deliberation, “but I can’t wait to find out.”

* * *

After that the Manual wasn’t so hard to read; it used simple language that Lilo found easier to understand, and had instructions which Lilo was careful to follow.

It was a good thing that Lilo was so far ahead of her class in math, and had Stitch to double-check her calculations for her, because she never would have been able to do the spells, otherwise.

“Stitch, I’m a wizard!” Lilo said in delighted wonder, the first time she succeeded with a spell. Stitch only watched in wide-eyed curiosity as the injured fish Lilo had been helping swam away with the full use of all its limbs.

“Cool,” Stitch said finally, and Lilo knew that they were on the same page.

* * *

Behaving like a wizard was hard, though. Not the spells and everything – although those weren’t exactly easy – but dealing with other people.

Lilo hadn’t bitten anyone in months, but sometimes she got so _angry_ , rage and frustration and helplessness welling up inside her until Lilo wanted to scream and scream and scream.

Lilo’s old friends still didn’t want to play with her, and Mertle always said the meanest things, and some days Lilo came home from school wanting to tear the world apart.

“And I can’t even bite her, because wizards aren’t supposed to do that,” Lilo told Stitch. She took her wizardly responsibilities seriously.

Stitch handed her a pillow, where she was lying flopped-down on her bed in anger and frustration.

“Bite this,” he advised. “Not Mertle.”

Lilo eyed the pillow thoughtfully, and did as he suggested.

It wasn’t the same as biting a person, but it definitely helped.

“Is this like when you build models of San Francisco and then destroy them?” Lilo asked.

Stitch nodded, looking pleased that she understood.

“Ih.”

“Okay, said Lilo, and went back to biting the pillow.

“Lilo, what are you doing?” Nani asked, when she came to tell them that dinner was ready.

“Substitution therapy,” said Stitch.

“Substitution therapy?” Nani repeated, one eyebrow raised.

“I’m biting a pillow instead of Mertle,” Lilo explained. “Because wizards don’t bite people. Or hit them.”

“Or punch in the face,” Stitch added.

“Right,” said Nani slowly. “Well, good, if it means you’re not going to hurt anybody, I guess. What’s with the wizard stuff?”

“It was in the book you bought me at the library sale,” said Lilo. “Remember? And I took the Oath, so now I’m a wizard.”

Nani looked indulgent.

“Okay,” she said. “Well, young wizard, dinner is ready, so wash your hands and come downstairs.”

“I don’t think she believes me,” Lilo confided to Stitch, as soon as Nani was gone.

Stitch only shrugged.

“Eh, grown-ups,” he said, and Lilo knew exactly what he meant.

* * *

“So,” said Jumba after dinner, “Nani tells me you’re a wizard, eh?”

“I am,” Lilo confirmed proudly.

Jumba chuckled.

“Ha! Been on Ordeal yet?”

“What’s Ordeal?” Lilo wondered. Stitch just listened in to the conversation, his ears cocked just-so.

“I’ll take that as a no,” said Jumba. “An Ordeal, for a wizard, is when you face down the Power which gave us death and entropy. Most wizards do it at some point.”

Lilo knew that Jumba was talking about the Lone Power. She’d read all about It.

“I have to _face_ It?” she exclaimed.

“Maybe it won’t be so bad,” said Jumba. “Hey, when you meet It, I have some questions–”

“No,” said Stitch.

“It’s only a few questions!” Jumba protested.

“No!” Stitch said a second time, and snapped something at Jumba in his own language.

“Oh, fine,” said Jumba, looking disappointed. “You win.”

Stitch said something irritated, and then looked to Lilo in concern.

“You be okay,” he said, nudging her. “Stitch be there too.”

“Promise?” Lilo asked in a small voice, because the thought of facing down the Lone Power all by herself frightened her.

“Promise,” Stitch confirmed, giving her a hug.

Lilo hugged him back, feeling comforted. With Stitch, Lilo could manage _anything_ , she was pretty sure.

Even facing down That Power, if it came to it.

* * *

But when Lilo’s Ordeal came, it was from unexpected quarters.

Lilo was outside in the playground during school lunch break, reading her Manual while the other girls sat a conspicuous distance away, laughing and chatting, when an enormous spaceship passed overhead.

The other girls ran screaming, running for cover like startled gazelles, but Lilo didn’t have time for that. The spaceship had been headed towards the other end of the island – which, coincidentally, happened to be where Lilo’s home was located.

Lilo didn’t believe in coincidences, and she had a bad feeling about this. She hauled her Manual into her arms, and took off running.

As she turned left, up the street towards her house, there were patches of flame here and there, as though someone had discharged a high-level energy weapon. Lilo reached the end of the street, puffing for breath, and slowed.

Nani was sitting on the front steps, with Pleakley and Jumba. The ground in front of their house was blackened and burned, with patches of glowing embers here and there. Lilo’s bad feeling increased.

There was a defeated slump to Nani and Pleakley’s shoulders. Even the usually-irrepressible Jumba looked… sad.

“Where is he?” Lilo yelled, running towards them. “Where’s Stitch?” Her heart was hammering, and she was gripped by a disbelieving, frantic terror as her brain put two and two together.

“Lilo…” Nani looked at Lilo with loss and mourning in her eyes. Lilo knew that expression. She’d seen it once before, on the worst day of her life.

“ _No!_ ” Lilo screamed.

“Lilo, they took him. I’m sorry,” said Nani helplessly.

“But he’s _Stitch!_ How could they just _take_ him?” Lilo tore at her hair. Stitch was super-strong, and there was no way he’d let anyone take him away without a fight.

“Tranquiliser dart,” said Jumba morosely. “The dosage was high enough to subdue even him.” He shrugged, just as helpless as Nani.

“But they’re not allowed to just take him! The Grand Councilwoman said he could stay here! He’s _ohana!_ ”

“There’s a new Grand Councilman,” Pleakley spoke up, shrinking back a little as everyone looked at him. “They said they were… acting on his orders?” Pleakley shrank back a little further. “Something about… him remedying the mistakes of his predecessor?”

Jumba gave a loud sigh, shaking his head.

“Stitch was originally sentenced to exile on a deserted asteroid by the Grand Council of the Galactic Federation,” he disclosed. “He was not, shall we say, expected to live very long in such conditions. The new Grand Councilman must have discovered that Stitch’s sentence was never carried out.”

Lilo took a deep breath, and let it out.

“You’re saying they’re going to kill him,” she said, as calmly as possible.

“Yes. I am sorry.”

“Lilo…” Nani reached for her, but Lilo stood as stiffly as a statue, and didn’t respond to Nani’s attempt at comfort.

Lilo had felt rage and anger many times before, but this time there was a _purpose_ to her anger. This time, Lilo wasn’t helpless, and that made a very, very large difference.

“If you’ll excuse me,” she said, her voice flat and cold, “I’ll be upstairs. I need to consult my Wizard’s Manual.”

She walked past Nani and Jumba and Pleakley inside the house. She heard Nani start to call after her, but Jumba said, “Let her be. Give her a little time to herself to think things over, yes?”

Lilo knew that this was Jumba’s way of giving her the opportunity to get away and do something about Stitch, and maybe later she would feel gratitude. But right now all she felt was boundless, righteous fury and a terrible fear, and there wasn’t any room for gratitude.

* * *

There was, it turned out, a spell for finding things.

Lilo pushed back the rug and got out the chalk, and began to draw the spell diagram on her bedroom floor. Nani would be annoyed about the mess, but in the grand scheme of things Nani’s annoyance didn’t measure up to the possibility of losing Stitch.

When she was done, Lilo sat back, and began reciting in the Speech.

The world around her seemed to still expectantly as each syllable left her lips. The further Lilo got, the more she felt as though the universe itself was paying attention. Normally she would have recited the spell slowly, savouring the experience, but now she ploughed through the spell as fast as she could.

The last word was spoken, and Lilo felt the spell take.

She found herself looking down into a vast, cavernous space, filled with hundreds of beings from all walks of life. At the front of the cavern, lit by a spotlight, stood a being that could be described as humanoid, if your concept of humanity allowed for six arms and a pair of twitching antennae. They wore ornate robes, and stood at a podium, looking down into the centre of the cavern.

There, on a floating platform, inside a dome of what looked like glass but was probably something much tougher, was Stitch, who looked to be still unconscious.

“Due to the wilful negligence of my predecessor,” the Grand Councilman’s voice rang out, “I am forced to bring before you today a matter which was long believed resolved. I am speaking of the case of the abomination against nature labelled Experiment 626.”

Lilo had seen enough. She ended the spell, with the coordinates she needed clear in her head.

Moving to a clear patch of floor, Lilo began setting up a transit spell.

* * *

Lilo appeared in the Grand Council’s assembly chamber without warning.

“ – Experiment 626 was allowed to remain on an inhabited planet which had grasped the basic principles of space travel, rendering Experiment 626 threat to all sentient and intelligent beings there and within the Galactic Federation–” The Galactic Councilman was saying.

Lilo cleared her throat. Loudly.

The Galactic Councilman continued speaking, apparently unaware of Lilo’s presence. A couple of aides were sending her looks of confusion, but so far no one was trying to arrest her or shoo her away. For once, the fact that no one ever took Lilo seriously ( _except for Stitch_ , part of her mind whispered, and the thought was shoved aside) was working for her, instead of against her.

Lilo paged through her Manual, and began laying out an equation in her mind, before reciting the spell.

“…a clear and evident incident of deliberate negligence on the behalf of the former Grand Councilwoman –”

Lilo took a deep breath.

“* _I_ _am on errantry and I greet you_ ,*” she said in the Speech, and the words rolled out across the vast chamber like thunder.

The Grand Councilman looked around in shock as Lilo’s voice assaulted his ears.

“What?” Dark eyes alighted on Lilo, and he looked as though he couldn’t quite believe that such a loud voice had come from _her_.

“I _said_ , I am on _errantry_ and I _greet_ you,” Lilo repeated impatiently.

One of the Grand Councilman’s antennae twitched.

“We are in the middle of important proceedings, young one,” he said, both offended and dismissive at once. “Your errantry will have to wait–”

“You’re talking about Experiment 626. I know,” Lilo interrupted, her voice still booming through the chamber for everyone to hear. “That’s why I’m here. His name is Stitch, and he is part of my _family_.”

Loud murmurings broke out throughout the chamber.

“Ridiculous!” the Grand Councilman snapped, antennae twitching wildly. “Experiment 626 is a dangerous abomination, created only for destruction, with no sense of right or wrong–”

“He’s a _person_ , and his _name_ is Stitch,” Lilo spoke over the Grand Councilman. “And how was he supposed to learn about right or wrong when no one ever tried to teach him?”

“That is beside the point–”

“No it isn’t. Stitch might not have known about right and wrong when you sentenced him, but he knows now. Me and my family taught him. We taught him about kindness, too, and ohana. Ohana means family, and family means that no one is ever left behind. Stitch is part of my family, and you’re not leaving him on a deserted asteroid to _die_.”

Lilo crossed her arms and glared. Around her the chamber was in an uproar.

“Our rulings are absolute,” said the Grand Councilman, speaking in a voice that suggested that he didn’t think very highly of Lilo’s intelligence. “I stand with the might of the Galactic Federation behind me. Do you really think that a single wizard is enough to stand alone against the entire Galactic Federation?”

Down below, there was a sound like shattering glass.

“Nope,” said Lilo, smiling at the sound. “But I’m never alone.”

The Grand Councilman whipped around in time to see Stitch’s floating platform rise into view, the ‘glass’ gone, and Stitch very much awake and aware and very, very annoyed.

“Stop him!” the Grand Councilman bellowed, but Stitch leaped off the floating platform and onto the balcony where Lilo and the Grand Councilman and his aides stood.

Stitch’s right ear twitched. He looked right at the Grand Councilman, and smiled, displaying all his teeth. Lilo expected him to do something violent.

Instead, Stitch spoke.

“ _In Life’s name and for Life’s sake_ ,” he began, not in his usual broken English but with proper grammar, word-perfect, as though he’d memorised the entire thing and knew it off by heart, “ _I say that I will use the Art for nothing but the service of that life_ –”

“Guards! Stop it before it gets another word out!” the Grand Councilman screamed. The guards went for their weapons.

Lilo threw up a shield spell just in time, and an energy blast splashed harmlessly over her and Stitch. Stitch never stopped speaking.

“ _I will guard growth and ease pain. I will fight to preserve what grows and lives well in its own way; and I will change no object or creature unless its growth and life, or that of the system of which it is part, are threatened_ –”

Lilo wondered how long Stitch had been turning the words over in his mind, before he’d decided to take the Oath.

“ _To these ends, in the practice of my Art, I will put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is right to do so – ‘til Universe’s end_.”

Stitch fell silent, and around them there was a roar of voices from the assembled members of the Grand Council, all of them speaking at once.

Lilo looked at the Grand Councilman, who was nearly vibrating with fury, and acted on a hunch.

She looked the Grand Councilman straight in the eye and said, _“*Eldest, Fairest and Fallen: greetings and defiance_.*”

The chamber fell suddenly silent as the full import of Lilo’s words registered.

The Grand Councilman gave a disgusted sigh, and the darkness behind his eyes came to the fore.

“I _knew_ the two of you were going to be trouble,” said the Lone Power, and all hell broke loose.

Stitch grinned widely, and said, “Best kind of trouble,” and charged.

Lilo let out a blood-curdling yell, and followed.

* * *

The Lone Power wasn’t expecting Stitch to bite It on the leg. But it turned out to be exactly the distraction Lilo needed.

* * *

Afterwards, while the Grand Council was recovering from the shock of discovering that the highest office in the Galactic Federation had been held by an avatar of the Lone Power, Lilo nudged Stitch and asked, “What do you think It meant, about us being trouble?”

“I don’t know.” Stitch was grinning with slightly blood-stained teeth. But what caught Lilo’s attention was the faint aura that surrounded him. It felt like… For the first time since Lilo had known him, it felt like Stitch was at peace, in his own way. “But we find out sooner or later.”

“Probably,” Lilo agreed. “Our luck is terrible.”

“Eh.” Stitch twitched an ear. “Only sometimes.”

When no one was looking, the two of them slipped away, disappearing with the help of a transit spell, leaving the Grand Council confused and frantic. But the last thing Lilo had heard was a motion to bring back the retired Grand Councilwoman, so she had a feeling everything would be okay, eventually.

* * *

“You. Are. So. _Grounded_ ,” Nani said through clenched teeth, some time after Lilo and Stitch had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the living room, and been forced to explain that wizardry really was real.

“And you!” she said to Stitch, who visibly braced himself for Nani’s ire. But instead of berating him Nani swept him up into a hug. Stitch hung from her arms, looking utterly surprised.

“I’m glad you’re okay and that Lilo got you back,” Nani told him, putting him back down.

She immediately did the same thing to Lilo, who complained loudly.

“Nani! You’re ruining my air of dignity!”

“What air of dignity?” Nani asked, hugging her tightly. Lilo gave in to the inevitable and hugged her back.

“I was so worried when I realised you were gone,” said Nani. “I can’t lose you too, Lilo.”

“I had to save Stitch.”

“I know, just…” Nani made a frustrated sound. “Just try not to get into any more trouble, okay?”

Lilo thought about the request. The problem was, after reading as far into her Manual as she had, she suspected that as a wizard trouble would be directed her way whenever the Powers thought that she could handle it – and perhaps even if she couldn’t.

“I’m not sure I can do that.”

“She’s a wizard now,” Jumba agreed cheerfully. “That means she’ll be at the centre of any trouble, trying to fix it. It should be exciting!”

Pleakley shook his head at Jumba. Jumba said, “What?”

Nani’s shoulders slumped.

“Can’t you just… _not_ be a wizard?”

“Nope,” said Lilo. “Not unless you never want me to be happy ever again.”

“Lilo…” Nani sounded exasperated, like she thought Lilo was exaggerating, even though she really wasn’t.

“Lilo tell truth,” Stitch said, his voice uncharacteristically apologetic.

“Stitch is right,” Jumba added. “Wizards who lose their magic aren’t the same afterwards. It’s not only the magic that goes away: it’s the part of themselves that made the magic possible.” He gave a philosophical shrug. “At least Lilo will never be bored.”

Nani took a deep breath.

“What you’re telling me is that Lilo is going to be going into danger and I can’t do anything about it.”

“Ih,” said Stitch, nodding.

“Sorry,” said Lilo.

“You know, on most planets, it’s a source of pride to have a wizard in the family,” Pleakley piped up. “It’s not everyone who’s chosen, you know.”

“Nani. I’ll be okay. I have magic, now,” said Lilo, trying to be reassuring.

“And me,” said Stitch.

“That goes without saying,” Lilo told him.

Nani gave a shaky laugh.

“Wizard or not, you’re still grounded. And once I get my head around the whole thing there are going to be _so_ many rules. So many, you hear me, Lilo?”

“She sucks the fun out of everything,” Lilo whispered to Stitch, before saying loudly, “I hear you.”

Nani looked down at her, and sighed.

“I heard that, you know.”

“Heard what?” Lilo pretended innocence.

Nani’s expression softened, and she ruffled Lilo’s hair, much to Lilo’s indignation.

“Lilo, don’t ever change.”

“The presence of entropy in the universe makes that impossible,” Lilo said seriously, straightening her hair. “But don’t worry. Me and Stitch are working on it.”

“’Til Universe’s end,” Stitch agreed solemnly.

He and Lilo exchanged glances. If no one else present understood the gravity of that promise, well – at least he and Lilo did.

“’Till Universe’s end,” Lilo echoed. She tugged at Stitch’s arm.

“Today has been an exhausting day,” Lilo said. “I think it’s time to unwind with some Elvis.”

“You always think so,” said Stitch. But he was grinning.

In that moment, Lilo knew that despite the events of the day, she and Stitch were both okay.

“I’m glad we’re family,” she told him.

“Me too,” said Stitch. “Race you to record player!” he added.

“You’re on,” said Lilo, and they both took off running.  
 


End file.
